While lying abed shortly after dawn pondering the upcoming day, it dawned on me that we hadn’t done a very thorough search of the pickup yesterday while looking for the missing wallet... and the more I mentally retraced my steps on Wednesday, the more convinced I became that that is where the wallet had been left. So after breakfast I drove back to Pittsford (which fortunately is only 11 miles from Fern Lake), where I found the mechanic to whom I had given the pickup’s keys on Wednesday. Together we went through the pickup with the proverbial fine tooth comb. No wallet. At that point the mechanic remembered that a regular visitor to the car lot had been in the pickup after I dropped it off on Wednesday. So, who knows, maybe that person found the wallet and has mailed it to Virginia. Well, you can ALWAYS hope… While talking to the mechanic, I enquired about the status of getting the 4WD fixed. “Well”, he says, “let me show you what’s wrong with it…” Seems the plastic knob for the 4WD selector switch is cracked, allowing the knob to rotate without actually turning the switch. With the knob properly positioned, the 4WD engages just fine… as we proved about 20 times on the spot. So I drove up to Brandon, saw Frankie Gomez (the Brandon Auto salesman), and within five minutes had reached agreement on a sales price. (I offered $1,000 less than the Kelly Blue Book private sale “fair” condition value; he countered with my price plus $50; I shook his hand.) Lest you think that is an outrageously good deal, as soon as I take delivery, the truck is going straight to Junction Auto for about $500 worth of repairs to known problems. Obviously, with zero identification I couldn’t go to our bank and get a cashier’s check, but Frankie took a personal check drawn on that bank with the understanding that I wouldn’t take the truck away until the check clears. Since I was in the area, stopped for a social visit with Tom Whittaker at his real estate office in Brandon. Back at Fern Lake, put stakes in the ground for the corners of the shed foundation footers. The layout checked square (equal diagonal measurements) on the very first try… which has NEVER happened before, on the first or twentieth try. Some mosquitoes about and somewhat bothersome without an application of Vermont perfume (i.e., Deep Woods Off). Lit a campfire on which to barbecue dinner… which caused the rain to start again in earnest. Barbecued anyway…
Post Script: IT’S A MIRACLE!!!!! The person who we suspected might have taken my wallet turned said wallet into the Brandon Police Department this afternoon. Wallet retrieved this evening, completely intact (money, IDs, credit cards, etc. all present).
